JULY 23RD PART 5: FOUR HOURS IN THE GREAT CEREMONIAL HOUSE
When I last left off, my family and I narrowly escaped death on the Magic Kingdoms newest thrill ride, the TTA of Terror. Is there any chance that Mr. Tom Morrow is part of a law firm, like Morrow and Morrow or something? Id like to contact him to file an intergalactic complaint.
Anyway, I was starting to get a headache and really wanted to lie down in a dark, air-conditioned room for a while, so Mom and I decided to head back to the Polynesian to check in. It was still a little early, but we were really hoping that our room would be ready. Dad and Katie decided to stay in the Magic Kingdom for a little while longer and ride some more rides.
So Mom and I headed for the exit, but not before she bought a pack of Toy Story (Not Brand Name) Silly Bandz. I had never really gotten into the whole Silly Bandz craze before. Why would I want to wear 10 pink dolphins on my wrists? But Id be kidding if I said I didnt wear a Jessie and a Bullseye all week. And if they made a classic Mickey Mouse head shape (why don't they???), Id totally wear that every day of my life.
Silly Bandz in hand, we left the park and hopped on the boat back to the Polynesian. I, of course, took a bunch of pictures.
Even though they dont quite scream DISNEY as much as the monorail does, I do enjoy taking the boats. I love being out on the water. Plus, theres something so glamorous about arriving via boat. Sure, Im not stepping off my yacht in the south of France with a glass of champagne in one hand and thousands of dollars in the other, but I can pretend.
After making a glamorous exit onto the dock, we headed straight for the Great Ceremonial House. It was incredibly hard to resist flopping down into one of these empty hammocks.
This little guy was right outside the doors to the GCH. I really want one for my backyard!
I dont have any pictures of check-in, but it went as youd expect it to. We got our giant folder of Disney information. We got our leis. The CM told us that our room was on the first floor of Fiji (!!!), but it wasnt ready yet. Blerg.
Oh, keep in mind that it was right around 1:00 when we checked in. Thatll come into play later on.
So to kill some time, Mom and I decided wed take a walk around the grounds. We headed over towards Fiji and tried to guess which room would be ours. We were really hoping that wed get one of these rooms that look over the marina.
Heres a picture of the Fiji sign. I love the font the Polynesian uses on all of its signs. Its so distinctly Polynesian.
On the other side of Fiji, there were several plants with big, gorgeous flowers. I really wanted one to stick in my hair, but I wasnt about to mess with anything this pretty. Plus, I'd look pretty guilty walking around with an obviously picked flower in my hair.
Mom and I headed back over to the marina, where we found a bench and sat down and chatted for a bit. This was our view. Because it was the first day, I was still having moments of OMG IM AT WDW!!! And sitting there staring across the lagoon at the Castle triggered one of those moments. It just felt so good to finally be home!!
After a while, we were both getting really hot (and the heat was not helping my headache) so we headed back into the air-conditioned splendor of the GCH. We walked around Boutiki for a bit and scoped out the souvenirs before sitting down in these awesome chairs.
I want these chairs for my house! They are so cool. And surprisingly comfortable. I didnt expect a lobby chair to be as comfortable as these are.
So Mom and I settled in and did what we do best
people watch. Were big people watching fans. I could sit somewhere all day and just watch the crowds pass by. Its especially fun at Disney because you get to watch families having fun together. In this particular moment, there was a family of four sitting near us who also appeared to be waiting for their room to be ready. The mother had fallen asleep, so the kids and the dad decided to entertain themselves by taking silly pictures with their sleeping mother. They were putting stuffed animals on her head and doing silly poses next to her. It was really funny to watch, mainly because Katie and I would have done the exact same thing when we were younger. Heck, who am I kidding? We would totally do the same thing today if our parents fell asleep. Were never planning on growing up.
Around 2:00, Katie and Dad came back from the Magic Kingdom and joined us in the GCH. We got our mugs, filled them up, and went back to waiting.
Heres a picture of Katie. As you can see, she still had a lot of energy.
Now me, on the other hand? I was about to pass out. My headache wasnt going away, and all I wanted to do was take a nap. And those chairs were soooo comfortable. I think at this point I tweeted asking whether or not it was tacky to take a nap in the lobby. Im not usually one for sleeping in a public place, but we didnt have a room and I was strongly considering just taking a nap right then and there.
Unfortunately my nap dreams were crushed when tons of pool-goers came storming into the GCH because it started to downpour. I dont blame them because this is what it looked like outside.
But, man, do displaced pool-goers make a lot of noise. So, no nap for me. Although, it was a lot of fun to watch soaking wet people run for cover.
That sounded really mean of me. I promise I'm not a completely evil person...I just think it's funny watching people get drenched. I would hope that you all would laugh hysterically at me if I was getting soaked. I mean, I'd be laughing at myself.
OH! I absolutely must mention something that I thought was really cool. Literally as soon as it started raining, a bunch of Polynesian CMs set up baskets of towels at all of the doors for people to dry off with.
When I saw that, I really wished I had internet access so that I could come on the DISboards and post a big Suck it, nerds! to all of the people who complain about poor service/unfriendly CMs at the Polynesian. The Polynesian CMs are awesome.
In another example of their awesomeness, as we all sat there in the lobby, a CM came around with a tray of cookies for everyone. You have no idea how excited that free chocolate chip cookie made me. I felt so special. Have you ever gotten free cookies in your hotel lobby? No? I didnt think so.
Around 3:00, the rain had stopped, so Mom and Dad headed out to the car to get some of our stuff. We were hoping that wed be getting the call that our room was ready any minute now, so we wanted to be prepared. Unfortunately, we still had A LOT more waiting to do, so we sat there with all of our luggage in the lobby.
Because it was sunny again, Dad decided to take some pictures of the GCH. Its so gorgeous.
I especially love this tree. It looks like a cross between a palm tree and an umbrella.
Instead of just sitting around, I decided to be productive and got a notebook out to start taking some trip report notes. This picture is blurry, but you can see me writing away in my pink steno notebook. Im such an aspiring journalist. Who is a sucker for anything pink.
Around 3:30, Mom went over to the front desk to see if theyd give us a timetable on when our room might be ready. The front desk CMs once again told her that we were in Fiji, first floor, marina view (SCORE!!!) but there were engineers working in the room and they werent sure exactly when they would be finished. They also offered us a room in Rarotonga, but Mom turned that down. Weve always wanted a marina view, so wed wait.
Dad and I passed the time thinking up crazy scenarios that would require engineers to be working in the room. I mean, they didnt say that there were electricians working to fix a lamp. Or that the cable guy had to come work on the TV. Nope, they specifically said engineers, which to us at least, implied some sort of serious work. You dont just call in an engineer for anything. Did the roof cave in? Did the guests who stayed in the room before us get so upset that they had to leave that they chained themselves to the furniture? (I wouldnt blame them for doing that.) Did a Sea Raycer jump out of the water and into the sliding glass doors?
At 4:30, we FINALLY got the call wed been waiting for. We were in Fiji 1319 and OUR ROOM WAS READY!!!! WOOHOOO!!!
We were happy until we noticed that it was once again downpouring. You can see how hard it was raining in this picture. We werent about to carry all of our stuff outside in that.
So we waited some more. I mean, whats a little more waiting when youve already been sitting there for almost 4 hours? Yeah, thats right. 4 hours. It was nuts. But whatever, we were at Disney and we didnt let the wait bother us. Would we have liked our room earlier? Of course. But the waiting was kind of fun, and it was definitely memorable. I only wish I knew how to play guitar because "Four Hours in the GCH" would make an excellent, dramatic protest-sounding song.
UP NEXT: We finally head to our room and then spend the evening at the Magic Kingdom!!
The fixins bar is just the best! I love getting a juicy burger with as many pickles as my heart desires!! And cheese for my french fries! YUM!
But hey, what a way to go if you did not live to tell the story..it happened at WDW! 
So that's another must do on this trip! 
I have to hear that little spiel you're talking about! 
I kinda feel like I'm playing a real life game of Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? Only I'm Carmen San Diego. 
